Comic-Con cheap fun

Comic books have become such a popular avenue for entertainment in America, and with superheroes all over movies, video games and televisions, it seems natural Fargo-Moorhead needed a second major convention for them.

This Saturday is the inaugural Fargo-Moorhead Comic-Con. The event takes place at the Eastgate Event Center in Moorhead from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

â€œValley Con is a much bigger event,â€ said Tony Tilton, chairman of the Fargo-Moorhead Comic-Con and Valley Con. â€œThis was conceived in the same way. Valley Con stared 35 or 37 years ago as a one-day event and grew.â€ He hopes this even will gain enough interest to become a multi-day event similar to Valley Con.

The convention will host panels featuring professionals who work in the comic book industry, including Joel Mullen, a comic artist from Minneapolis who has work featured in both Marvel and DC comics.
The convention will also feature a series of trailers for upcoming comic-related movies, including a new trailer for â€œThorâ€ which came out this week. Beyond the trailers, there will be a comic book costume contest with prizes and a possible video game tournament.

Those who need to defend their favorite superhero can do so in the Superhero Smackdown at the end of the day, where superheroes will be randomly matched up, then the panels and audience can debate who would best the other.

Throughout the day there will be vendors selling comic books and related merchandise.

Tilton assures there is something for everyone beyond comic book fans at the convention.

â€œItâ€™s not just about the comics, some of the panels will talk about the pop-culture aspect,â€ Tilton said.

Tilton added his surprise at the kind of demographics these events attract.

â€œWere getting fans in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s,â€ Tilton said. â€œYou get a lot of females now; when I was a kid girls didnâ€™t read comics.â€

Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children and vendors can reserve table space for $35.

â€œWeâ€™re just having fun,â€ Tilton said. â€œItâ€™s cheap admission, 5 bucks, you can go to a matinee for that price.â€

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